UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE

December 2002

State Magazine

Winter Comes
to Romania
Contents
In our next issue: Art in Embassies team poses
with glass vessels by artist
Dale Chihuly in the chancery

Art in in Moscow. Team members

are, from left, artist-lender
Mary Heebner, Rebecca Clark,

Embassies Virginia Shore and Camille

Benton.

State
Magazine
State Magazine (ISSN 1099–4165) is published monthly, except
bimonthly in July and August, by the U.S. Department of State,
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF TER: Send changes of address to State Magazine, HR/ER/SMG,
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DESIGNER The magazine is also available to persons interested in working
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ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS State Magazine is available by subscription through the
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CHAIR Washington, DC 20402 (telephone [202] 512-1800) or on the web at
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EXECUTIVE SECRETARY For details on submitting articles to State Magazine, request
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Deadlines: Dec. 15 for February issue.
Jan. 15 for March issue.

Contents
 State Magazine

Contents Department of State • United States of America

December 2002
No. 463

13 9 Post of the Month: Bucharest

C O L U M N S
A former communist country courts NATO and the EU.

13 Office of the Month: Special Issuance Agency 2 From the Secretary

What’s so special? Fast service, that’s what! 8 Direct from the D.G.
16 Gift of Leave
Recipients praise leave donation program. D E P A R T M E N T S

18 Being a Good Neighbor 3 Letters to the Editor

Ottawa steps up to the “bowl.”
4 In the News
19 FSI Meets the Surge
New hiring initiative tests center’s ability to cope. 25 Safety Scene
22 If Mom Needs Help Now 26 People Like You
Service helps employees help loved ones from a distance.
Photo by Dave Krecke

27 Education and Training

24 ‘Our Town’
Southwest offers retirees many attractions. 28 State of the Arts

29 Appointments
Kim Dula, left, passport specialist,
confers with Barbara Chesman,
9 30 Personnel Actions
director, Special Issuance Agency.
31 Obituaries
Photo by Kirsten Salpini

On the Cover
Joy Salpini, community Snow-covered fir trees in
liaison officer in Bucharest, the Carpathian Mountains in
skis on Romania’s Poiana Poiana Brasov, Romania.
Brasov slopes. Photo by Joy Salpini
 FROM THE SECRETARY
SECRETARY COLIN L. POWELL
Building Hope
for Democracy
T his is the season when our
thoughts turn to the peo-
ple we cherish most and
we pause to count our blessings.
As we give thanks for the joys of
home and friends, we think also of
the members of our extended
State Department family serving
in far-away places. We especially
remember the colleagues we lost
and our hearts go out to the Green
and Foley families.
The perils and tragedies of the past year make us appre-
ciate more than ever how precious life and liberty are. And
we Americans, who are so fortunate, have an obligation to
do all we can to help others around the world who yearn
for the dignity, prosperity and peace that freedom brings.
Last month in Seoul, Korea, 120 delegations representing
the world’s democracies—new and old, developed and
developing—gathered for the second ministerial meeting of
the Community of Democracies. I was to have led the U.S.
team, but to my regret, I had to cancel at the last minute due
to the U.N. Security Council deliberations over Iraq.
The council’s unanimous passage of Resolution 1441 was
an important action in defense of international peace and
security, and Baghdad’s last chance to eliminate its
weapons of mass destruction by peaceful means. Whether
peacefully or by force, the world soon will be rid of the
threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
The greatest contribution to international peace and
security, however, will come ultimately from helping dem-
ocratic values and institutions flourish on every continent.
In such a world, tyrants and terrorists cannot thrive.
As more and more countries adopt democratic practices,
the evidence mounts: Democracy is not a foreign import or
imposition, but an inspiration to men and women all around
the globe who work for change within their own societies.
Some still regard democracy as a luxury that only the
world’s wealthy can afford. But people throughout the
developing world increasingly see democracy as a necessity.
They have discovered that only a combination of democrat-
ic and market freedoms can create conditions for well-being
on the large scale needed to lift millions out of poverty.
2 State Magazine
Countries with closed societies, with centrally controlled
economies and with no civil liberties, do a poor job of meet-
ing their citizens’ needs for food, shelter, education and
health care. That is not ideology. It is fact.
It is also a fact that trade and investment don’t tend to
flow to countries—even democracies—that are rife with
corruption, where civil society remains extremely weak or
where leaders, once elected, fail to invest what resources
they have in their people.
New democracies created with high hopes can founder
if ordinary citizens do not see direct improvements in their
lives. Transitions can be chaotic and wrenching.
Democratic systems take time to develop and to deliver.
Meanwhile, autocrats will sing siren songs of stability.
Corruption will squander a nation’s treasure and destroy
public trust. Populists will make false promises of fairness.
And extremists will feed on frustration and fears for the
future.
New democracies conceived in hope are carried by hope
until they are consolidated.
And so, of all the challenges to democracy in the world,
the one that should worry us the most is the loss of hope.
That is why we must work intensively to promote dem-
ocratic institution-building and the rule of law. That is why
we must foster the development of civil societies and inde-
pendent media. And why it is so important that we do all
we can to support good governance and encourage sound
economic management. These systemic efforts can help
build confidence among citizens that staying democracy’s
course will be worth the struggle.
At Seoul, the U.S. delegation, headed by Under Secretary
for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky, joined the other mem-
bers of the Community of Democracies in adopting a Plan
of Action. The plan identifies concrete steps that govern-
ments can take individually, collectively and in partnership
with nongovernmental organizations to promote demo-
cratic change, consolidate democratic institutions and help
democracies succeed. And I hope that our bureaus here in
Washington and each and every mission overseas will do
their part in helping to implement the plan.
As we number our blessings this holiday season, we,
who work in the State Department, can count among them
the many opportunities we have to keep democracy’s hope
strong and secure around the world.
For our part, Alma and I consider ourselves greatly
blessed to have been given the opportunity to serve with all
of you and your families. You have extended kindnesses to
us well beyond the call of duty and wherever we go, you
always make us feel welcome.
From the Powell family to yours, we wish you a happy,
safe and prosperous New Year. ■
Contents
 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Customer Service and developing innovative approach- As deputy chief of mission from
es to enhance improvements in all sec- 1985 to 1988, my staff and I tried
Front and Center tors of government service. hard but without success to identify a
I was so glad to see the Center for suitable, available site for a new
Ana-Maria C. de Miranda
Administrative Innovation featured chancery. The embassy working envi-
Human Resources Assistant
as Office of the Month in the October ronment can only have gotten much
U.S. Consulate General
issue. worse with the significant growth in
Rio de Janeiro
As part of its most recent “Good staff since 1989.
Ideas Workshop” held in Lima, Peru, So it is particularly gratifying to
in September, I can testify to the cen- know that the U.S. Embassy in Sofia
ter’s commitment to finding better
Congratulations, Sofia soon will have conditions that we
ways to improve customer service. Your article in the October issue on could only have dreamed about back in
The staff’s energy, enthusiasm and “Sofia Breaks Ground for New Chan- the 1980s and that the transition from
knowledge influenced all the Lima cery” was welcome news for those of the old to the new is truly complete.
participants. I believe that all of us us who served in the old main
who were there are now part of a chancery building downtown and the Jonathan B. Rickert
select cadre of employees who share various annexes. The chancery build- Retired FSO
their enthusiasm for creating means ing was both unsafe and insecure. Washington, D.C.

From the Editor

A Christmas Memory skyline. It was much warmer in Radio City Music Hall,
where the Rockettes lifted everyone’s spirit. The next

T
he short story writer O. Henry once observed that
every street in New York had a story to tell. And
he told many, including “The Gift of the Magi,”
the classic story of giving.
I first saw New York during Christmas of 1963. The
trip was a gift from my college roommate, a New Yorker
who had invited me to join him and his parents in
their high-rise apartment near Greenwich Village.
Southerners by birth, his parents were both successful
professionals—his father a Wall Street lawyer, his moth-
er a juvenile fiction editor at Doubleday.
We walked in the bitter cold along the Battery in low-
Photo by Bill Bachmann/eStock Photography/PictureQuest
day we lunched at Schrafts and had dinner at Luchow’s.
In between, we browsed what seemed an endless sup-
ply of bookstores. One evening, we watched the skaters
in Rockefeller Center. Lights reflected on the ice and the
whole scene seemed surreal.
I devoted one evening to a college English assignment
by interviewing the Rev. Harold Flye, an Episcopal
priest who lived in Greenwich Village but earlier had
taught at St. Andrew’s, a boys’ boarding school in the
Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee near my home.
There he had befriended novelist James Agee and
recently had edited a collection of the late novelist’s let-

er Manhattan, gazing ahead at the river and back at the
Holiday skaters at Rockefeller Center.
ters—a primary source for a paper I was writing for an
American literature course. Earlier in the day, I had
interviewed the novelist’s widow, Mia Agee, by tele-
phone. They met at Fortune magazine.
But most evenings, we wandered the city’s streets
where vendors hawked everything from their carts.
Most memorable were the giant pretzels and roasted
chestnuts whose smell filled the cold air. We saw Spoon
River Anthology at the Belasco Theater with a young
actor named Hal Holbrook. Years later, I saw him por-
tray Mark Twain at the Kennedy Center. My mother was
with me. She liked everything but the cigar smoke.
I have visited New York many times since, but never
with the same sense of mirth and magic of that first trip. It
was a true gift. And I treasure it still.

Contents December 2002 3

 I N T H E N E W S

Department Presents Small Business Award

State Department photo.

Jolanda Janczewski, president of Consolidated Safety Services Inc. of Fairfax, Va., accepts the Department’s Small Business Prime Contractor
of the Year Award during a ceremony Sept. 17 in the Benjamin Franklin Room. Joining her are, from left, William Eaton, assistant secretary for
Administration; Dennis Lauchner, vice president of the services company; and Charles E. Williams, director, Bureau of Overseas Buildings
Operations. Sponsored by the Bureau of Administration, the award recognizes small business contractors who have displayed exemplary per-
formance, customer service, management and technical capabilities.

CFC Campaign By referring to the

CFC’s Catalogue of Car-
ing, employees may

Continues select specific organiza-

tions to support or con-
tribute to the general
The Department’s Combined Federal Campaign con- campaign. Whichever,
tinues through Dec. 13 with a goal of $1.905 million. employees are encour-
The world’s largest and most successful workplace aged to use payroll deduction.
fund-raising model, the CFC supports more than 3,000 The Department is known for its strong tradition of
nonprofit organizations in the area, across the country giving and last year won the coveted Pacesetter Award
and overseas. The campaign dates from 1961, when John by exceeding its assigned goal of $1.8 million by more
F. Kennedy was president. than 3.5 percent.

4 State Magazine
 I N T H E
National Hispanic
Heritage Month
Photo by Mark Stewart
Elizabeth Lisboa-Farrow, left, chair of the U.S.-Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce, and Albert C. Zapanta, president of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber
of Commerce, received the Distinguished Public Service Award at the
Secretary’s Open Forum for outstanding contributions to international
affairs. The forum was held during October’s Hispanic Heritage Month in
the Department. Their appearance was sponsored by State’s Office of
Civil Rights and the Hispanic Employment Council of Foreign Agencies.
Diplotots
Expands
The first phase of an expanded Diplotots, the
Department’s on-site child care center in State
Annex-1, Columbia Plaza, has been completed, cre-
ating space for up to eight additional infants,
according to Patricia Pittarelli, program manager in
the Office of Employee Relations.
Space for an additional 22 infants, Ms. Pittarelli
said, will be completed by the end of calendar year
2003. Currently, there is a waiting list of about 80
infants.
Opened in May 1996, the center currently houses
70 children—infants through kindergarteners.
N E W S
Artists and Their
Art Go Abroad
The State Department recently sent artists to visit host
countries along with their artworks—an original concept
for the Department’s Art in Embassies Program that for
more than three decades has been placing original works
of art by U.S. citizens in American diplomatic residences
worldwide.
During September and October, five American artists
and one art historian participated in the new initiative
that staff would like to see a permanent part of the pro-
gram.
The artists are Los Angeles ceramist Karen Koblitz,
who visited Moscow; New York City painter Valentina
DuBasky, who visited Riga, Latvia, and Tallinn, Estonia;
painter Karen Gunderson, also of New York City, who
traveled to Lomé, Togo; multimedia painter Johnny
Johnson of Fredericksburg, Va., who went to Cotonou,
Benin; and Brooklyn artist Eve Andree Laramee, who vis-
ited Ottawa and Montreal.
Art historian Nicholas Fox Weber, executive director of
the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Bethany, Conn.,
traveled to The Hague in the Netherlands, where he dis-
cussed the late abstract expressionist artist Josef Albers.
The artists were selected by the U.S. ambassadors in
each country in conjunction with program curators.
Photo courtesy of the artist, New York
Heron, Warbler, & Milkweed; Valentina DuBasky.
December 2002 5
 I N T H E
DACOR Announces Scholarships
Several scholarships and fellowships will be available in
academic year 2003–2004 for children and grandchildren
of active or retired U.S. Foreign Service officers to study at
The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., and Yale
University in New Haven, Conn., through DACOR Bacon
House Foundation (Diplomatic and Consular Officers,
Retired). Awards are made possible by a generous bequest
from the late Ambassador Louis G. Dreyfus Jr.
Hotchkiss seeks one qualified enrolled student for a
$5,000 scholarship. Applicants should contact the
Director of Financial Aid, The Hotchkiss School, Lake-
ville, CT 06039-0800. Applicants must document their
parents’ or grandparents’ Foreign Service status.
DACOR Bacon House Foundation will consult with
Yale on the merit-based awards. The Yale Center for
International and Area Studies, Henry R. Luce Hall, 34
Hillhouse Ave., New Haven, CT 06520, coordinates the
fellowships. Awards will apply toward university-billed
expenses only. Aspirants may apply for the Dreyfus
awards at the time of their application for admission to
Yale. Any Dreyfus award would be contingent upon Yale
confirming that the student has been admitted or is in
good standing.
■ Awards to undergraduates may be up to $5,000. It is
Yale policy that no student offered admission will be
unable to attend because of financial limitations. At
present, undergraduate students may apply 100 per-
cent of any scholarships awarded by outside organiza-
tions to reducing their Yale self-help requirements.
■ Awards to graduate and professional students may be
up to $10,000 and any second-year award will be at
half stipend. There is no restriction as to field of study,
but if there are many applicants preference will be giv-
en to students in a field related to foreign affairs and
for study toward a master’s degree.
■ All awards are subject to the availability of funds.
To apply for Dreyfus awards at Yale University, please
send the following items to the DACOR Bacon House
Foundation at the address below. Applicants must com-
plete all necessary admission and enrollment procedures
with Yale University separately.
■ A copy of the most recent appointment or promotion
document of the applicant’s parent or grandparent
who is an active or retired U.S. Foreign Service officer.
■ A brief letter of interest with full contact information,
including full name, current and permanent addresses,
and phone (and fax) numbers.
■ Applicant’s resume.
■ Copies of the applicant’s most recent transcript (if
already enrolled at Yale, submit a Yale transcript; if
6 State Magazine
N E W S
admitted but yet to begin classes, submit the most
recent transcript).
■ A one-page statement of academic goals, work experi-
ence, awards and nonacademic achievements.
Applicants for graduate fellowships should add a sec-
ond page outlining career goals.
Please say how you learned about the Dreyfus awards.
Send application materials to:
DACOR Bacon House Foundation
Attn: William C. Hamilton
1801 F St., NW
Washington, DC 20006
The deadline for applications is March 15, 2003.
For further information, contact Taushia Walker at
(202) 682-0500 ext. 17, voice; (800) 344-9127; fax (202) 842-
3295 or e-mail prog.coord®dacorbacon.org.
Open Season
Draws to a Close
The special open season for federal employees to
sign up for long-term care insurance ends Dec. 31.
By enrolling now, current federal employees
answer a brief set of health-related questions and
elect options for a range of services—from nursing
home and home health care and assisted living facil-
ities to adult day care, caregiver and respite care.
About 100,000 applications to purchase federal
long-term care insurance have been filed, according
to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Most
applicants are active duty federal employees, and the
acceptance rate is about 94 percent, OPM reported.
An estimated 20 million people are eligible for the
program, including members of the uniformed
services, annuitants, spouses of employees and
annuitants, children 18 and older, parents, parents-
in-law and stepparents of employees.
Enroll online at www.ltcfeds.com. To receive an
information kit and application, call toll-free (800)
582-3337 (voice) or (800) 843-3557 (TDD). Until
payroll deduction becomes available in January
2003, State employees should pay their premiums
directly.
Applications are unavailable in the Department.
 I N T H E N E W S

Applicants Sought for ing the environment or human condition in their com-
munity and their sensitivity to recognizing and develop-
ing better community life.

Outstanding Volunteerism Award
Nominations are being sought for the Secretary of State
Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad to be pre-
sented to a U.S. government direct hire employee or
family member from each of the six geographic bureaus
during Foreign Affairs Day in May.
The award recognizes outstanding volunteers in
exceptional service to the community, outstanding
activities in the host country and exceptional service in
emergencies.
The AAFSW selection panel will base the award on
candidates having demonstrated extraordinary personal
concern for, and contributed time and effort to, improv-
The nomination should not exceed three printed pages
and should include the following information:
■ Nominee’s name, agency and position (if nominee is a
family member, the name, relationship to the direct hire
employee and the employee’s position and agency).
■ Nominator’s name, agency, position (or family relation-
ship) and description of association with the nominee.
■ Justification for nomination. The narrative should dis-
cuss the actions and qualities that qualify the nominee
for the award, citing specific examples of accomplish-
ments that fulfill the criteria.
Nominations are due Feb. 1 and should be sent by
e-mail, fax or mail to the AAFSW Office, 5125 MacArthur
Blvd, NW, Suite 36, Washington, DC 20016; phone (202)
362-6514; fax (202) 362-6589; e-mail, AAFSW @ Erols.com.

Largest Foreign Service Specialist Class Sworn In

Photo by Dave Krecke

The largest Foreign Service specialist class ever was sworn in Oct. 11 at a ceremony in the Harry S Truman Building’s Benjamin Franklin
Room. A class of 93 technical security specialists, diplomatic couriers, security engineers, information management specialists, office man-
agement specialists, financial management officers and other specialists took the oath of office administered by Cecilia Herrera, assistant
chief of the Office of Protocol. The specialists are reporting to their new worldwide assignments.

Contents December 2002 7

 DIRECT FROM THE D.G.
AMBASSADOR RUTH A. DAVIS
Reflection, Gratitude and Generosity
A s we near the end of another year, it is
once again an opportunity to engage in
reflection, gratitude and generosity.
First the gratitude: Right off, I want to
thank everyone on the “dream team” that
comprises the Department of State. It has
been another productive year, thanks to your
hard work and dedication.
As for the reflection, in October, I had the
pleasure of meeting with a large group of
entry-level office management specialists in
London. I was struck again by the singular
role they play in the Department of State.
Simply put, without them, our missions and
offices would be unable to function.
So I want to take this public opportunity to single them
out for their hard work and commitment to public service,
the American people, the President and the Secretary of
State. Each and every office management specialist is a
vital member of our national security team.
I know that many of our overseas office management
specialists have been putting in long hours because of staff
shortages. I have some good news to report: help is on the
way. Almost 1,200 people responded to our online OMS
recruitment campaign this summer. Over 400 candidates
have made it to the assessment stage of the evaluation, and
we hope to have all of these candidates assessed by
January, significantly shortening our OMS hiring process.
So, sometime next year, you can expect an influx of new
office management specialists to fill the vacant jobs over-
seas and provide relief to those of you putting in extra
hours. I know this is something else to be grateful for.
Now, a word or two on generosity. I have been moved by
the community service activities I have heard about from
office management specialists at various posts. These are
amazing stories, and I share them because they make me
feel good about our cadre of office management specialists
and demonstrate how each one of us, by our interactions
with others, can truly affect the way America is seen abroad.
■ Organizing fund-raising events for orphanages in Haiti.
■ Teaching English to Moroccan businesswomen.
■ Participating in the Minor Elementary tutoring program
in Washington, D.C.
■ Speaking to rural high schools about the Foreign Service
during home leave.
■ Teaching typing to teenage girls at a shelter in Panama.
8 State Magazine
■ Participating in walkathons in support of
childhood diabetes in Canberra and cancer
research in Rome.
■ Convincing a dentist back home to
donate toothbrushes and toothpaste to an
orphanage in Mexico City.
■ Including kids from an orphanage in
Montevideo in embassy children’s events—
Christmas, Halloween, Easter egg hunt and
trips to the beach and to the movies.
■ Volunteering time at an AIDS day care
center in Harare.
■ Organizing a fund-raiser for a Romanian
charity that supports medical care for children.
■ Performing American songs on Russian television.
■ Teaching English to Sierra Leonean refugees in Dakar,
resulting in several students entering college.
■ Organizing opera, dinner and other outings for the
Pretoria embassy community.
■ Transferring three weeks of annual leave to a friend in
the Foreign Service who had been ill for some time,
and then persuading others at the embassy to do the
same, enabling this colleague to make a smooth transi-
tion into retirement.
Without exception, each person who shared a story
mentioned how rewarding the experience was.
These remarkable stories of office management spe-
cialists reaching beyond the immediate job at hand to
their communities are in no way unique. I know there
are countless other stories out there and many more that
will be written in coming months. May all of us find
such inspiration to give back and share the best of our-
selves. There is tremendous satisfaction to be gained
from giving to communities throughout the world,
within the United States and within our own
Department of State community as well. It also happens
to be diplomacy in action.
Finally, you can do something too. At this time of year,
many of you may find yourselves with “use or lose” annu-
al leave. Please do consider donating your leave to col-
leagues who have exhausted their sick leave and are in dif-
ficult circumstances. More information on the Voluntary
Leave Transfer Program is available on the HR Intranet
web site. This type of generosity directly helps your
friends and colleagues in the State Department family.
Happy holidays and best wishes for the new year. ■
Contents
Sunday morning at Humorlui
Monastery in Bucovina.

Post of the Month:

Bucharest
By Joy Salpini and Ed Stafford

A tour in Romania is a dizzying trip

through time—forward to the cutting edge of

the information age and back to the rhythm

of peasant dances and horse-drawn carts.

Since 1989, Romania has struggled to over-

come the oppressive command economy

legacy of its communist-era dictator Nicolae

Ceauşescu. As it presses to join NATO and

Photo by Graham Kerr

December 2002 9
 the European Union, the country is stepping up to painful
reform, making rapid changes that are long overdue.
The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest is leading the reform
agenda, pressing successfully in the past year for concrete
steps to tackle corruption, strengthen public administra-
tion, downsize the military and bring more transparency
to the business climate. The embassy is helping to
strengthen Romania’s border controls to combat human
trafficking and the trans-shipment of weapons of mass
destruction. Privatization of state-owned enterprises is
high on the mission’s bilateral agenda. So is judicial reform
to ensure that Romanians benefit from quicker and fairer
justice. The embassy is also seeking continued progress in
addressing the concerns of ethnic and religious minorities,
including restitution issues. Romania’s steps in each of
these areas have captured international attention.
Last year’s 5.3 percent GDP growth is helping to make
Bucharest, where most official Americans live, a truly
international city again. Ten years ago the airport—a
small decrepit building—welcomed plucky tourists and
cowboy investors. Now a modern facility with 10 inter-
national gates, the airport greets upscale travelers and
business executives. The city now supports two five-star

Photo courtesy of Ms. Munshi

and three four-star hotels—a far cry from the one four-
star hotel in town a half decade ago. And Bucharest plays
host to a range of international conferences and visits.
Last December, Secretary of State Colin Powell partici-
pated in the Organization for Security Cooperation in
Europe ministerial here. Deputy Secretary Richard
Armitage attended a meeting of NATO aspirants last
March, and Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill was present Public affairs officer Kiki Munshi with her Romanian horse, Hidalgo.

in May for the European Bank for

Reconstruction and Development’s
annual conference.
Bucharest is undergoing a startling
renaissance. New restaurants—from
French to fish to fusion—are opening,
all featuring excellent, low-cost
Romanian wines. Many offer dining
alfresco from April through October
at prices far lower than those in the
United States. A new, multitier mall
is now an American-style teenage
hangout, complete with a 10-screen
multiplex cinema. While still present,
the number of street children is de-
clining. New houses and apartments
are being constructed continuously
inside and outside the city.
Photo by Joy Salpini

Many embassy families now live in

homes with yards beyond the city
center, near the brand-new American
International School of Bucharest.
The school offers academic, artistic
Administrative officer Gary Bagley and administrative assistant Andreea Crisan confer on an and athletic programs for a diverse
upcoming VIP visit. international student body of more

10 State Magazine
than 400 in state-of-the-art facilities. Those who prefer to
live downtown now have a range of new or renovated
apartments in the city. And there are even a few Belle
Époque houses for those who prefer architectural charm to
modern utilities.
On long weekends and day trips, embassy employees
can experience an amazingly beautiful country where
Romanian farmers work the land with horses and hand
plows and shepherds herd flocks across hillsides. In the
northeast, the 600-year-old monasteries of Suceava and
Bucovina, their exteriors painted with biblical scenes, have
been declared UNESCO World Heritage treasures. Many
offer rooms for rent along with a simple meal prepared by
the nuns in residence. In the northwest, Romanian peas-
ants still attend church in their colorful folk dress—a tra-
dition carried out for hundreds of years. If you’re lucky,
you may see kitchen pots hanging from trees, declaring
that a farmer’s daughter is now of marrying age. Ed Stafford, a political officer, standing, and Bogdon Sgarcitu, political
Over the past year, the embassy reopened an American assistant, discuss Romania’s possible entry into NATO.
Presence Post in Cluj, the historical capital of
Transylvania. Across that storied region, Romania’s his- buried deep in Romania’s rugged mountains. Peasant
tory comes to life with traces of royalty, medieval citadels arts and crafts are varied, simple and beautiful.
and Vlad Tepes—the historical basis for Bram Stoker’s Romania is paradise for outdoor enthusiasts. The
legendary Dracula. Saxon-fortified churches stand silent Carpathian and Fagaras mountains are filled with trails.
guard, while Roman, Greek and Dacian ruins dot both Hiking, mountain biking or horseback riding tours are
countryside and seacoast. Other getaways include moun- available from guides who know their homeland and are
tain spas, mud baths and an always frozen “ice cave” proud to tell their stories. The truly adventurous will find

Nurse practitioner Mari Sullivan, right, supervises her

newest staff member, Christina Nitu, as she takes Deirdre
Messick’s blood pressure.

Photos by Joy Salpini

December 2002 11

plenty of opportunities to be guided toward Europe’s
largest concentration of bears, wild boar, lynx and
wolves. Many hunters return home with their own
bearskin rugs. Ski slopes, while not of Swiss Alp quality,
are less than three hours from Bucharest. Not only is the
skiing excellent but it costs less than half what it does
elsewhere in Europe. Environmentalists and nature
lovers flock to the Danube delta for Europe’s largest vari-
ety of migrating birds and waterfowl. And newly priva-
tized Black Sea beach resorts are getting a needed face-lift
to compete for Scandinavian and German tourists.
Like tourism, the U.S. bilateral partnership with
Romania is growing rapidly. Romania was the first coun-
try to sign an Article 98 agreement excluding U.S. nation-
als from the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction.
Romanian “Red Scorpion Battalion” soldiers are now
serving proudly in Afghanistan, at the side of America’s
finest soldiers. The United States is now Romania’s third
largest foreign investor, up two notches in barely a year.
Growth has been particularly keen in the telecommuni-
cations sector, where Romania has introduced into
Europe one of America’s newest broadband technologies.
And although a few words in Romanian bring a welcome
smile from our hosts, English is by far the country’s most
widely spoken second language.
In Bucharest and in Cluj, the U.S. team is making a dra-
matic difference in Romanian lives and in the course of
Romania’s history. Romania is now at the forefront of
12 State Magazine
Assistant general services
officer Elizabeth Thompson
enjoys the sunshine in the
mountains of Transylvania.
Photo by Laura Griesmer
U.S. policy interest, forging a partnership for the century
ahead. It has a lot of catching up to do. But with the
changes under way, this once-forgotten country—hidden
in Europe’s wildest, most romantic corner—is proudly
being remade into a dynamic and strong partner in the
Euro-Atlantic community. ■
Ms. Salpini is the community liaison officer and Mr. Stafford
a political officer in Bucharest.
EDITOR’S NOTE
The Post of the Month is booked through
January 2004. That’s right, January 2004.
We appreciate your keen interest in this long-
standing section of the magazine, and we welcome
your continued support for a feature we have been
trying to “grow” to mirror the ever-growing com-
plexity and challenge of our overseas missions.
While the post feature is the most popular, it is
only one section of the magazine where you can tell
your story. There are others, especially our news
and features sections, that we encourage you to
support.
And, yes, we will continue taking “bookings” for
Post of the Month.
Contents
 Office of the Month:

Special
Issuance
By Kim B. Dula
Agency U.S. government employees and the military both state-
Photos by Dave Krecke side and overseas. The agency also processes military
family member passports for all those who apply in the
continental United States. Tourist passports are also
What’s so special about the Bureau of Consular processed at the agency for congressional referrals and
Affairs’ Special Issuance Agency? those referred by the Department as well as other gov-
When the White House requested a diplomatic pass- ernment agencies.
port and visa for travel to Russia in three days, the Additionally, SIA obtains foreign visas for the Presi-
agency met the deadline although Russian visas normal- dent, Vice President, cabinet secretaries, members of
ly take 15 days to process. Congress and their staff
But this type of special and all Department per-
service is not uncommon sonnel. SIA also obtains
for the agency, according to Russian visas for all federal
Barbara Chesman, director. agencies and the Secret
SIA, whose trademark Service. In FY 2001 alone,
is issuing passports and SIA obtained more than
arranging for visas under 15,000 foreign visas.
short deadlines and chal- Prior to 1994, the agency
lenging conditions, is was a 34-employee divi-
among CA’s 16 passport sion of the larger Washing-
agencies. SIA’s mission is ton Passport Agency that
unique. While the other then processed both tourist
passport agencies service and no-fee passports. As
the general public, SIA the needs of the military for
deals not only with domes- no-fee passports grew,
tic organizations but also Consular Affairs created a
with posts and U.S. mili- separate agency, PPT/SIA,
tary installations stateside to focus primarily on pro-
and overseas. cessing no-fee passports
The agency processes all and other special needs. In
U.S. diplomatic and official Department colleagues pick up their passports at SIA’s window in 1994, the Washington Pass-
passports for all eligible the Employee Services Center in the Harry S Truman Building. port Agency and the newly

Passport specialist Kevin Young at his
desk in the communications branch.
created Special Issuance Agency moved from K Street,
N.W., to larger and separate offices at 1111 19th Street, N.W.
SIA now has a staff of 61, including 12 contract
employees, who are organized into five branches: diplo-
matic travel, official travel, special assistance, communi-
cations and processing.
The diplomatic travel branch processes all diplomat-
ic passports as well as some official passports world-
wide. Some of the branch’s clientele include members
of Congress and their staff, all foreign affairs agencies
and the Secret Service. Diplomatic travel also obtains
foreign visas.
The official travel branch issues only official passports.
The vast majority of official passports go to Defense per-
Michael Flynn handles
congressional visas and passports.
14 State Magazine
sonnel. This branch also issues official passports to
employees of those federal agencies that diplomatic trav-
el does not handle.
The special assistance branch assists members of
Congress with constituents who have difficult cases or
urgent travel needs. This branch processes no-fee regular
passports for organizations such as the Peace Corps and
Gloria J. Cross, senior passport specialist,
joined the Department in 1969 and looks
forward to her retirement in 2003.
the Red Cross. It also issues all no-fee military family
member passports for the entire United States, except
Hawaii.
SIA moved August 2001 into new quarters on the sec-
ond floor to accommodate its extended staff and the new
photodigitized system. Gloria Cross, a senior passport
specialist, reminisces about when “photodig” was a hot
topic back in 1969 when she began her career.
“It’s been an amazing experience to witness the techno-
logical changes and advancements in passport services
because we have truly come a long away,” Ms. Cross said.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, all diplomatic pass-
ports are being replaced with the new secure photodigi-
tized version, which reduces fraud by making photo sub-
stitution in new passports far more difficult. Passport
numbers doubled during FY02.
This increased demand and new procedures, however,
are not the only causes of pressure on SIA employees. The
real pressure, according to Randall Bevins, assistant
director, comes “from the substance of what we do and
what we do reflects deeply on the Department.”
Despite the increase in U.S. government travel, SIA
employees’ commitment and spirits are high. “What I
like most [about SIA] is feeling that we make a differ-
ence,” smiled Carol Gonet, chief of diplomatic travel.
“I haven’t gotten bored with the job,” said Karl Person,
senior passport specialist, “because just when you think
you’ve seen everything, something new pops up.”
 To provide more convenient service and support for
government business abroad, SIA conducts training in
the Washington, D.C., area for federal agencies and the
military. Since Defense is a special customer, SIA con-
ducts training at military installations throughout the
United States and overseas.
SIA also has a second passport acceptance facility in the
Harry S Truman Building that the diplomatic travel branch
manages. This satellite office is located in the newly reno-
vated Employees Services Center and provides passport
and visa services to Department employees.
The national duty officer program is also operated in
SIA. The program employs staff from SIA, the
Washington Passport Agency and other areas of Passport
Karl Person, senior passport specialist,
likes his job because there’s always
something new.
Theresa Fichera, a passport specialist
in the diplomatic travel branch, prepares
to return passports.
Battie Stewart, chief of the official travel
branch, finds work in SIA stimulating.
Services. Duty officers take emergency telephone calls
and process passports during the weekend for those who
must travel abroad immediately because of a life or death
or national security situation.
Employees consider SIA full of challenges and oppor-
tunities. Amaise Robinson, passport specialist, enjoys the
agency’s diverse clientele. Some, like Terita Robinson, a
passport specialist who started as an agency secretary,
consider SIA a great place for growth and advancement.
The complexity of work and customer service keeps
employees like Battie Stewart, chief of official travel, hap-
py to be a part of the SIA team.
“You see so many people. It’s like watching a parade,”
said Michael Flynn, passport specialist.
So, what’s so special about the Special Issuance
Agency? Parade or not, SIA’s bottom line is meeting the
special needs of its customers around the clock. ■
The author is a passport specialist with the Special Issuance
Agency.
For more information, contact or visit SIA at 1111
19th Street, N.W., Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036.
Telephone: (202) 955-0200. Hours of operation are
Monday–Friday, 8:15 a.m.–4:30 p.m. The passport
office in the Employee Services Center is also avail-
able to Department and U.S. Agency for Inter-
national Development employees in the Harry S
Truman Building. Hours of operation are Monday–
Friday, 9:00 a.m.–2:45 p.m. For Department person-
nel, domestic and at post, contact the diplomatic
travel branch at diplomatictravel@state.gov.
Contents December 2002 15
 Gift of Leave
Story and Photos by Dave Krecke
W
hen she joined the State
Department in the summer of
2000, Patricia Huff began suffering
from painful, persistent ulcers on
her legs that refused to heal.
Aggravated by poor circulation, the
ulcers were not life threatening, but they could have led
to gangrene and, if unattended, amputation. Doctors
told Ms. Huff that the best cure was for her to stop
smoking and to immobilize and elevate her legs in a
quiet environment. The program support assistant in
the Bureau of Human Resources was too new to have
accumulated enough leave to rest at home for the heal-
ing period. And going on leave without pay was not an
option for the single parent supporting herself and her
teenaged son.
A colleague in the Office of Employee Relations told
Ms. Huff about the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program,
a kind of clearinghouse for leave that receives unused
annual leave from
voluntary donors and
distributes it to quali-
fied recipients. Each
year, more than 150
employees who have
exhausted their sick
leave get the gift of
leave from colleagues
who donate more
than 20,000 hours of
their use-or-lose
annual leave (sick
leave cannot be trans-
ferred). Scores of re-
Patricia Huff cipients, who might
otherwise be forced
16 State Magazine
to go on leave with-
out pay status, con-
tinue to receive pay-
checks through the
generosity of their
fellow employees.
Ms. Huff’s story has
a happy ending. She
took the leave, rested
her legs and stopped
smoking, and the ul-
cers disappeared. Now
she’s back at work,
accumulating leave on
Lora Williams her own. Exceedingly
grateful for the leave
she was given, Patricia
Huff dreams of the day when she, too, will donate leave
to others.
“Donated leave made it possible for me to heal,” she
says. “You wish you could go up to everyone who
contributed and thank them.”
Diabetes is a cruel disease. Lora Williams, a secretary
in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, discov-
ered just how cruel when she developed cataracts in
both eyes after being hospitalized with a diabetes-
related illness that depleted her leave the year before.
“The people who donated leave helped me have
peace,” she says. “I didn’t have to worry about what I
would do without a paycheck during my recovery.”
Her surgery was successful and Ms. Williams is back
on the job, comforted in knowing that when she needs
an operation on the other eye, she will be able to count,
if necessary, on donated leave.
Joyce Bruce, a budget analyst in the Bureau of
Western Hemisphere Affairs and also a single parent,
had a life-threatening disorder requiring surgery and a
lengthy convalescence. She knew employees who had
benefited from the leave transfer program, so she con- and friendly and
tacted her bureau’s executive director. answered all of my
“We never know when something will strike us,” questions. Once I
says Ms. Bruce, who missed nearly five months of work qualified, the leave
but not a single paycheck while she was recuperating. flowed at a pretty
“This program really helps people in difficult situa- steady rate.”
tions.” Echoing a view expressed by every beneficiary Beverly Goldsmith,
of the donated leave program, she commented, “I only a public affairs spe-
hope I can reach the cialist in the Office of
point where I can Public Liaison, was
contribute leave, may- no stranger to the
be not to those who donated leave pro-
gave to me, but to gram when she began
others in need.” to experience excruci-
Not every partici- Karla Williams ating pain in her neck.
pant in the program is She had received
sick. When her moth- donated leave 10
er needed 24-hour years before when complications during a pregnancy
care during surgery required her to rest for a lengthy period. Now, a slipped disk
and recovery, Linda in her neck required surgery, six weeks’ bed rest and a total
Edelin’s supervisor in of nearly 10 months away from work to recuperate.
the Public Affairs “I was very thankful for the gift from the donors,” she
Bureau’s press office says. She bravely tol-
Joyce Bruce suggested that she erated pain, slept sit-
apply for the donated ting up for weeks
leave transfer pro- and wore a cervical
gram. After filling out the application, Ms. Edelin discov- collar “halo” around
ered that she did, indeed, qualify. her head and neck
“The program saved me a lot of worry,” she says. “I for six weeks during
didn’t have to choose between my mom and my job.” the hot, humid sum-
Karla Williams learned about the donated leave pro- mer months. But her
gram while working at the Justice Department for four greatest fear was not
years. She had even donated leave to some of her col- the physical discom-
leagues there. When she joined the Department in 2001, fort but the psycho-
she had almost exhausted her leave caring for her new logical pain of falling
son during three months of maternity leave. Eighteen into debt from the
months later, Ms. Williams delivered another bouncing missing paycheck.
Beverly Goldsmith
baby boy. But she had Thanks to countless
only about one month colleagues from the
of leave left. The Department and oth-
donated leave transfer er federal agencies, that was one pain Beverly Goldsmith
program “topped off” was spared.
that month with two A few rules govern how much leave a donor can give.
more, and the busy The maximum donation, for example, is half of the leave
mom was able to a donor may accumulate in a single leave year. And near
spend the critical first the end of the leave year, donors need to move quickly be-
three months of her cause they cannot contribute more leave than there are
new son’s life at home work hours remaining in a given leave year.
with him and his Few gifts have such profound and lasting impact on
slightly older brother. the lives of recipients as the gift of leave.
She calls it a hassle- For more information about the Voluntary Leave
free program. “The Transfer Program, contact your bureau’s executive director.
administrative peo- Linda Edelin
ple were patient The author is a writer/editor for State Magazine.

Contents December 2002 17

Being a Good Neighbor
Story by Craig P. Bryant
Photos by Denise Toms

he U.S. Embassy in Ottawa is located in

T
the historic heart of the city, between the
bustling stalls of the Byward Market area
and the spires of Parliament Hill. Behind
the somewhat austere façade of the
embassy building is a staff that cares
about their community.
Just ask the Ottawa Salvation Army.
The Ottawa Salvation Army established its first
soup kitchen more than a century ago and today offers
a free soup line every day of the year to people in
need. To raise money for its programs, the Salvation
Army held a soup cook-off in the Byward Market in
early September. At the “Soup with Sally Ann” event,
chefs from 16 top restaurants offered big pots of their
best house soup for the public to taste and judge.
Needing an additional sponsor for the cook-off, Embassy employees Christian Reed and Vanessa Warner sample the soups.
the Salvation Army contacted the embassy for assis-
tance. Marilynn Fulcher, community liaison officer, and tions. They collected $1,000 from embassy employees in
Donna Miller, Foreign Service National employee of just five days.
the economic section, took the lead by informing “Canadian and U.S. employees gave very willingly because
embassy staff of the event and asking for small dona- they respect the good work the Salvation Army does not just
in Ottawa but also nationwide,”
according to Ms. Miller.
To recognize the embassy’s contri-
bution, the single largest to the
event, the Salvation Army named
the trophy awarded to the top soup
“The Staff of the U.S. Embassy/Sally
Ann Souper Bowl Trophy.”
Claire Tremblay, a development
officer for the Salvation Army,
described the embassy’s response as
“nothing short of amazing.” The
effort was even more impressive, she
said, considering the embassy staff
only recently had participated in a
drive to build eight houses in a week
A Salvation Army representative as part of a Habitat for Humanity
announces the winning chef from project.
the Honest Lawyer Restaurant Just what you’d expect from a
after Donna Miller, right, FSN
committee chairperson, presented good neighbor. ■
the trophy for the best soup.
The author is vice consul in Ottawa.

18 State Magazine Contents

 FSI Meets the Surge
By Laura Sells
Photos by Bob Kaiser
T
he George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training
Center is buzzing with activity, thanks to the
Diplomatic Readiness Initiative.
For the past year, the center, home of the Foreign
Service Institute, has been moving to ensure that new
Foreign Service employees acquire the knowledge and
skills to successfully perform their duties, that new Civil
Service employees learn what the State Department is all
about and that locally employed staff (formally known as
Foreign Service National employees) receive professional
skills training. To accommodate the increases in students,
faculty and staff, changes have been made to course
schedules, curricula, facilities and operations.
Swearing in ceremony for new employees.
Among the increased course offerings are orientation,
languages, area studies, EEO and diversity awareness for
managers, CableXpress, the security overseas seminar,
general services operations, human resources, financial
management and consular as well as political and eco-
nomic trade craft courses. Additions include public diplo-
macy basics courses targeting junior officers, introducing
them to public diplomacy practices early in their careers.
The School of Applied Information Technology has
added more than 50,000 additional hours of training to
accommodate the influx of new information manage-
ment specialists and technical specialists. (The new hir-
ing initiative has also created a greater demand for IT fol-
low-on and refresher training. Check out the new Fiscal
Year 2003–2004 Schedule of Courses now available on
the FSI website at http://fsiweb.fsi.state.gov/courses/
default.asp.)
December 2002 19
 Working closely with the Bureaus of Human
Resources and Information Resource Manage-
ment, FSI in August implemented Auto-
Scheduler. Based on Foreign Service new hire
career paths, the innovative tool is now used at
registration to create a training schedule and
automatically register students in the appropri-
ate courses for their career paths.
Undecided about what courses you should
be taking at this stage of your career? Take
heart—FSI has published training continua for
Foreign Service generalists and Civil Service
employees. A training continuum for Foreign
Service specialists is currently in the works.
Visit http://fsiweb/fsi.state.gov/courses/con-
tin.asp for details.
The basic consular course now starts every sec-
ond day instead of every third day to accommo-
date 765 students per year. The week-long A-100 A basic leadership class in session. This class is now mandatory for FS-03 and
orientation class for Foreign Service officers GS-13 employees.
now has a Foundations of Leadership module,
co-conducted by faculty from the School of Pro- regional seminars now follow A-100 classes to reduce gaps
fessional and Area Studies and the Leadership and in training. All new Foreign Service officers are also being
Management School, with sessions on managing up and encouraged to take the EEO/diversity awareness for man-
team building. Laptop computers are now issued to each agers course before their first overseas assignment. The
junior officer with most of the class materials on a CD-ROM Transition Center orientation programs for new-hire family
for the first time ever. Area Studies’ two-week intensive members have been redesigned and lengthened. Initial

FSI director Kathy Peterson opens a new digital multimedia lab seating 38 students.

20 State Magazine
interaction with families begins with e-mail and phone dia-
logue months before their training begins. The center’s
DOSNET and Internet home pages also have expanded to
help put information at the fingertips of new hires.
Personnel and families assigned to St. Petersburg,
Moscow, Athens or Beijing can now use the new FSI lan-
guage and orientation Out and About CD-ROMs to nav-
igate in a very foreign environment. Out and Abouts for
Tokyo, Kiev, Bangkok and Cairo will soon be available,
and more are on the way.
Once at post or at domestic assignments, all employees
may take advantage of FSI’s distance learning courses as
well as commercial, college and university courses through
FasTrac and Smart Force programs. There are more than
2,000 offerings available on both the Internet and the
Department’s Intranet. They include courses in foreign lan-
guages, management and supervision, information technol-
ogy and technical skills. IT courses can lead to 21 different classrooms in State Annex 44 as a short-term solution.
industry-standard certifications. To obtain more informa-
tion, visit http://fsiweb.fsi.state.gov/courses/distlearn.asp. received approval to expand the current training facilities
In Thailand they say, “You can be comfortable in small
spaces as long as the mind has room to think.” In
response to the training demands of the DRI, the School
of Language Studies continues to find new ways to give
language students ample room for thinking. Last March,
the number of language classes exceeded the number of
language classrooms available. By scheduling classes to
maximize room usage, the school was able to house 225
classes in 200 rooms.
Now, finding creative solutions to the space challenge is
even more pressing. FSI is considering enhancing the use of
technology and the web and looking for venues for local
immersions and creative scheduling of rooms. At enroll-
ment peaks, for example, the Portuguese and Icelandic sec-
tions use double sessions, having one group of Portuguese
students in the classroom in the mornings and the Icelandic
students in the afternoons. The Spanish section did “hot
bunking” and “hopscotching,” having several classes use
the same room by coordinating start times,
the multimedia lab and self-study hours.
The Chinese section went “nomadic,”
changing classrooms every hour or two,
taking advantage of hours when other
groups are in the lab or having lunch.
A Slovak class went “hermit crabbing,”
changing rooms each day, filling in behind
classes in other language sections while
they were in area studies. Finally, a Korean
class went “camping,” moving into a
Department chair’s office while he was
away for training. No longer is each class
guaranteed its own room for the length of
the training period. Since September, virtu-
ally all languages have done some double
sessions. So students coming to language
training should be aware they may have
afternoon rather than morning classes. The Students using one of FSI’s state-of-the-art multimedia labs. The four labs can seat 120.
arrangement doesn’t diminish the promise, Students study some 60 languages at FSI.
however, of a rich learning experience in a variety of ven-
ues and lots of room for thinking in other tongues.
Don’t be surprised if you see craftsmen at FSI
redesigning classrooms and office space to accommo-
date more people. Downscaling classroom furniture,
adding computer workstations and using modular fur-
niture is creating more space. As a result, the A-100
classes now have approximately 98 students each and
an average of 65 employees is scheduled for each Civil
Service orientation. In July, there were 85 students in the
Foreign Service specialist orientation class. A fourth
multimedia lab has been added and other lab capacity
increased to bring the total number of workstations to
120. In Warrenton, FSI is leasing trailers to accommo-
date the additional students and staff.
Since capacity will soon be reached at the Shultz
Center, there are plans to construct several additional
Classes will be scheduled there in early 2003. FSI has also
and build a permanent child care center. FSI is working
closely with the Bureau of Administration to plan the
facility, scheduled for completion in about four years.
FSI has increased its hours of operation. The library
and multimedia labs are now fully staffed from 7:30 a.m.
to 5:45 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. During the bid-
ding cycle, the Overseas Briefing Center remains open
and fully staffed after regular weekday hours. The center
is open until 8:30 p.m. on selected Wednesdays and on
Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to support additional bid
and post research.
With about two more years left in the DRI, don’t be sur-
prised if you see many more changes at FSI. The philoso-
phy is to bring the new students in and make sure they
all receive the top-quality training FSI is known for. ■
The author is a management analyst in FSI’s Executive
Office.
Contents December 2002 21
If Mom Needs
H e l p N o w,

Photo courtesy of Natalie Wells

Natalie Wells with her mother in Texas.

Where Do
I S ta rt ?
By Sydnee Tyson

W
hen Natalie Wells, the community liaison office coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in

Kingston, learned that her mother had been hospitalized three times over two weeks in June,

she immediately called to see how she was doing.

22 State Magazine
 Widowed for more than 15 years, her mother,
Katherine Klumbis, 81, suffers from severe diabetes and
lives alone. While talking with her daughter by phone,
she went into a diabetic coma. After a number of frantic
calls to her mother’s neighbors, Ms. Wells reached the
high school son of one neighbor and persuaded him to
immediately check on her mother’s condition. He called
an ambulance. The emergency medical technician that
attended told Ms. Wells that he had never seen anyone
with such low blood sugar levels. Later, the hospital
advised her that her mother was going to be discharged
soon and sent home—to an empty house.
In Jamaica, Ms. Wells found herself only one time zone
away from her mother’s home in Katy, Texas, near
Houston—closer than her family’s last posting in
Mumbai, India, but still not close enough. Knowing she
needed to act fast to assist her mother, she requested
Eldercare Emergency Visitation Travel. While preparing
for her trip, she learned about LifeCare, a free resource
and referral service the Department provides to all per-
manent employees and family member appointees. She
decided to call. Texas, where her mother lived, was not
her home state. She had never lived in Texas and was
unfamiliar with its agencies or local laws.
After Ms. Wells described her mother’s situation, a
LifeCare specialist explained what they could offer.
Within 24 hours, she had received a 21-page fax with an
extensively researched list of appropriate agencies, com-
panies and services she could contact. LifeCare sent hard
copies of this information to her mother’s address along
with their “Adult Care Kit.” The kit features guides that
New Name, Same Service
The Department continues to offer this useful re-
source and referral service. The current service provider,
LifeCare, will continue to respond to Department em-
ployees, but the name of the service has changed. From
now on, it will be called IQ:INFORMATION QUEST.
IQ:INFORMATION QUEST, in the same way that
LifeCare helped Natalie Wells develop and implement
a care plan for her mother, could help you solve
dependent care problems. Need quick back-up child
care because your sitter is ill? Looking for a math tutor
for your eighth grader? Want to find out more about
attention deficit disorder? Planning a move to another
U.S. location and wondering about the local schools?
IQ:INFORMATION QUEST can save you hours of get-
ting passed from resource to resource until you finally
reach the experts who have the answers you need.
IQ:INFORMATION QUEST also can help employ-
ees to plan ahead and to learn more about adoption,
clarify caregiving issues, checklists and record-keeping
forms, plus contact information for relevant health care,
housing, legal and financial resources. The kit even
comes with a few practical items such as a pill sorter box
to simplify complicated medication regimes, a night-
light, a jar opener to help those with arthritic or weak
hands and a small flashlight that fits into a frail hand.
Finally, LifeCare made follow-up calls to see if there was
anything else they could do.
With this information, Ms. Wells says she saved hours
of her own time, aggravation and “actually, lots of mon-
ey.” She used the listings of various state agencies to find
the services she needed to help her mother. In two weeks,
she was able to locate free legal help; obtain short-term
nursing care for her mother that included a new glucose
machine; arrange visits from two different teams of social
workers; assist her mother in creating a legal advance
health care directive and a durable power of attorney;
and find a volunteer service that calls her mother twice
daily to make sure she’s okay.
Now back at post, Ms. Wells hears from her grateful
mother that her blood sugar levels have stabilized, that
she now is able to see her doctor monthly instead of
every two weeks and, best of all, that she feels better. Ms.
Wells, in turn, is grateful to LifeCare for providing the
critical information just when she needed it most and she
reports that she, too, can sleep a little easier at night
knowing her mother has a care plan that is working. ■
The author is the dependent care coordinator in the Office of
Employee Relations.
educational opportunities, disabilities, understanding
special education laws, staying healthy, having a baby,
childproofing a home, Medicare, long-term care insur-
ance and, yes, even pet care.
IQ:INFORMATION QUEST is available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
You can access the service by telephone at (800) 222-
0364 (if you are hearing-impaired at (888) 222-0364) or
on the Internet at www.worklife4you.com.
New users must register. Enter Company Code:
statedepartment (all lowercase). User ID is: First Name
+ Middle Initial + Last Name and MMDD (month and
day from your birthdate); e.g. JaneCStrider0524.
For more information about IQ:INFORMATION
QUEST, Eldercare Emergency Visitation Travel, or the
Department’s Eldercare Program, contact Dependent
Care Coordinator Sydnee Tyson in the Office of
Employee Relations at tysonsl@state.gov.
Contents December 2002 23
 O U R
Stunning Storms and Sunsets
Jim and Carol Reeves are high and dry.
The retired couple lives in Albuquerque, N.M.,
whose climate is ideal for playing tennis in the morn-
ing and skiing in the afternoon. They love the bone-
dry air, the wide-open skies and the “drop-dead sun-
sets.” They also savor the blistering hot Mexican food
and get a lift from the city’s colorful balloon festival,
an annual event.
The Reeves are not alone. About 600,000 residents
live here, including many Foreign Service retirees.
Bordered on the east by the Sandia Mountains, the city’s
altitude ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 feet, which
means it’s “all downhill to Denver” and about an hour
uphill to historic Santa Fe. Mount Taylor towers 100
Steve Vidler/eStock Photography/PictureQuest
Up, up and away at Albuquerque’s annual balloon festival.
24 State Magazine
T O W N
miles west of the city, and during the summer mon-
soons, multiple lightning storms crisscross the sky.
There are plenty of year-round flea markets and few
flying insects to interrupt an evening outside without
screens. On a slow day, you can take a cable car up to
Sandia Crest and look down from more than two miles
high over the Rio Grande Valley and see the volcano
cones on the west side.
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of occasional
articles about retirees and their choice of retirement spots.
If you wish to contribute a short piece about your town
and why you chose to retire there, please write or e-mail
the editor.
Contents
Safety Scene
Taking Falls
Seriously
By Daniel L. Harman
H
ave you ever fallen? Maybe you tripped over an
uneven surface or slipped on a wet floor. Others
may have laughed at your misfortune and perhaps
you laughed with them after finding you were unin-
jured. But falls are not a laughing matter since they often
cause serious injury.
Falls accounted for 28 percent of the injuries reported
in the Department in FY02. While most falls result in
sprains or contusions, many involve fractures, and some,
usually from heights, cause death. Trips occur when
walking across such surfaces as rough ground or uneven
flooring. They can occur on slick or smooth surfaces as
well, especially when one is wearing wet shoes.
Ladders account for many falls at work and home. Two
Department fatalities in recent years have involved the rou-
tine use of ladders. A contractor decorating a Christmas tree
at an overseas mission fell backward off the ladder he was
using and struck his head. A gardener pruning grapevines
fell from a ladder and landed headfirst. While these fatali-
ties happened at work, similar incidents can also happen at
home where most people have at least one ladder. Whether
at home or work, basic safety guidelines apply.
When using a stepladder, never stand on the top two
steps. You can lose your balance too easily and fall. And if
you’re using an extension ladder, set it at a 75-degree angle,
measured between the ladder and the ground. Most
ladders manufactured in the United States have a label on
the side to help you
Large openings in railings set this angle. If your
pose a threat to young ladder lacks this
children. label, you can stand
in front of the ladder
with your toes touch-
ing its base. Stand
straight and extend
your arm to grasp
the step that is the
closest to your shoul-
der height. If your
arm is fully extend-
ed, the ladder is at
the correct angle. If
your arm is bent, the
ladder is too steep and
may tip backward as you
climb. If you must bend
forward to grasp the step,
the ladder is too shallow
and the base may slip as
you climb.
Know your ladder’s
load capacity. You can
find the load capacity
label on the side of a
U.S.-manufactured lad-
der. If you overload the
ladder, it may fail while
you’re on it—causing
you to fall. Remember to
add the weight of your Aluminum ladder at an electrical
tools and supplies to box in a residence is set at the
your body weight when proper angle.
determining the ladder’s load.
You should also consider electricity. Aluminum
stepladders and extension ladders conduct electricity. If
you contact an electrical power source working with a
power tool, current can flow through you to the ladder.
You may experience a shock and fall off the ladder. If the
shock does not injure you, the fall could.
Another concern is children and falling, particularly in
overseas residences. The most important safety device to
prevent children from falls is parental supervision.
Children can fall down stairwells, off porches or decks, or
over low or poorly designed protective railings. Gates
can be installed at stairwells to eliminate these falls.
Adequate railings can help prevent children from falling
off elevated decks. Be aware of low railings, horizontal
baluster construction and too much separation (over 4
inches) between vertical balusters.
Railings should be 42 inches (107 centimeters) high to
prevent children and adults from falling over them.
Railings with horizontal balusters look like ladders to
children, and every parent knows how children enjoy
climbing anything that looks inviting. Railings with
excessive separation between the balusters can allow
children to fall through the railing or become stuck
between the balusters. To prevent this from happening,
install barriers—such as plastic mesh, window screening
and plexiglas—over the railing to prevent access. These
can be attached temporarily and removed once the child
is old enough to understand the hazard.
The Residential Safety Checklist addresses these items in
overseas housing. If you are unfamiliar with this publication,
contact your post occupational safety and health officer. You
are the greatest asset for eliminating fall hazards. Eliminate
tripping hazards and modify slick surfaces where possible.
Follow safety principles when using ladders. Safeguard your
children by preventing access to fall hazards. ■
The author works in Safety, Health and Environmental
Management.
Contents December 2002 25
People Like You
A Marriage With Strings Attached
M
usic has been at the center of Sarah Genton’s
life for as long as she can
remember. Her father played
jazz piano and her maternal grand-
mother was a concert pianist.
Ms. Genton, publications coordinator
in the Family Liaison Office, learned the
guitar at age 11, with the help of an extra-
ordinarily gifted classmate. A teacher at
her high school in Niskayuna, N.Y., a
small community near Schenectady, nur-
tured Sarah’s love of folk music in partic-
ular. As faculty sponsor of the school’s
folk culture group, Ms. Ward inspired
student members to explore and pre-
serve the rich musical traditions of the
Adirondack Mountain region.
At Brown University, Sarah sang and
played guitar with a bluegrass band dur-
26 State Magazine
ing her freshman year, then joined Johnny and the
Photo by Dave Krecke
Sarah Genton manages FLO’s
publications and web site.
Genton family photo
Sarah and Tom Genton
sing at their wedding.
Luncheonettes, a more serious group
that played two or three gigs a week at
bars, coffee shops and special events in
the greater Providence, R.I., area.
Dragging herself to Friday morning
classes after straggling home from 2 a.m.
gigs, Sarah realized she would have to
choose between performing with a band
and getting a degree from a demanding
Ivy League school. She chose the degree
and left Johnny to find a female lunch-
eonette to replace her.
After graduating, Ms. Genton re-
mained at Brown to work in the medical
school’s public relations department. She
continued to be deeply committed to
music, however, and vowed to marry a
musician. A close friend introduced her to
a guitar-playing colleague who was also looking for some-
one “musical.” Tom Genton was working for an insurance
underwriter in New York City and about to make an impor-
tant job shift. When they started dating in the spring of 1986,
Tom had just taken the Foreign Service exam. That fall, he
joined the U.S. Information Agency and began studying
French for an African assignment.
The Gentons sang a duet at their wedding the follow-
ing June and have been making music together ever
since. Wherever they’ve been stationed—Harare,
Ouagadougou, Yaounde, El Salvador or Washington,
D.C.—they’ve formed groups with other musicians and
played together. “Life can be stressful,” Sarah says.
“Playing music is such a wonderful way of getting rid of
that stress.” The Gentons have also discovered music is
the perfect entrée into other cultures, even their own.
No sooner had they settled in for their current
Washington, D.C., tour in 1999 than they bought a home
in Arlington’s Madison Manor and linked up with three
other neighbors and former residents of the community
to form The Bad Manors. Carefully scheduling practices
and performances around their families and full-time
jobs, the group often turns practice sessions into family
potluck gatherings at one of the musicians’ homes. Each
plays more than one instrument, so the instrumentation
is fluid and depends on which style of music—Irish, folk
or rock—they’re singing and playing. Tom plays lead
guitar, while Sarah plays guitar, mandolin and piano. The
fiddler also plays bass and guitar, the piano player
switches occasionally to the accordion and another gui-
tarist doubles as the percussionist.
Tom Genton, a member of this year’s National War
College class, has submitted his bids for his next overseas
assignment. The couple and their daughters, 8th grader
Katharine and 7th grader Kristen, aren’t sure where they’ll
be living in the fall of 2003, but they are sure they’ll be
packing their guitars and joining yet another musical
group wherever it happens to be. —Dave Krecke

George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center

Course
Education Training
Jan. Feb. Length
& Course Jan. Feb. Length

TRANSITION CENTER Career Transition Center

Dates for FSI Transition Center Courses are shown below. For information on all the Retirement Planning Seminar (RV101) 25 4D
courses available at FSI, visit the FSI Schedule of Courses on the Department of Financial and Estate Planning (RV103) 27 1D
State’s Intranet at http://fsiweb.fsi.state.gov. FY03/04 dates are now available in the Annuities and Benefits and Social Security (RV104) 26 1D
online catalog. See Department Notices for announcements of new courses and new
course dates and periodic announcements of external training opportunities spon-
sored by FSI. School of Language Studies
Increased language enrollments due to the Secretary’s Diplomatic Readiness
Security Initiative have required FSI’s School of Language Studies to change class schedules.
SOS: Security Overseas Seminar (MQ911) 6 3 2D Classes are being run in double sessions. The morning session may begin as early
ASOS: Advanced Security Overseas as 7:30 a.m. and the afternoon session may end as late as 5:30 p.m.
Seminar (MQ912) 14 25 1D
TDY Security Overseas Seminar (MQ913) 6 3 1D
FasTrac Distance Learning Program, Learn at
Security Overseas Seminar, Youth (MQ914) 22 1D
Your Own Pace, When and Where You Want
Foreign Service Life Skills FSI is accepting applications for the FasTrac distance learning program. All State
Regulations, Allowances and Finances (MQ104) 11 3D Department employees, FSNs and EFMs are eligible. FasTrac offers over 1,400
Protocol and U.S. Representation Abroad (MQ116) 22 1D courses covering numerous subjects. Training is conducted online through the
Going Overseas—Logistics for Adults (MQ220) 26 2.5H Internet and the Department’s Intranet. Students may complete courses for inclusion
Post Options for Employment and on their official FSI transcript or take the course module they need to “get the job
Training (MQ703) 25 1D done.” Course length varies from two to eight hours each and testing out of what
Targeting the Job Market (MQ704) 23 2D you already know may shorten learning plans. To view the complete FasTrac cata-
Managing Rental Property Overseas (MQ853) 15 2.5H log, visit the FasTrac web site at http://fsi.state.gov/courses/distlern/fastrac/
Emergency Medical Care and Trauma default.asp.
Workshop (MQ915) 29 1D Length: H = Hours, D = Days
For additional information, please contact the Office of the Registrar at (703) 302-7144.

Contents December 2002 27

 STATE OF THE ARTS

Upcoming Calendar
◆ Dec. 4 Soprano Cynthia Young and mezzo-soprano Barbara Schelstrate Performances are on Wednesdays at
◆ Dec. 18 Christmas concert with Nick Greanias and Friends 12:30 p.m. in the Dean Acheson Auditorium.

On the Silk Road

the culture being portrayed. And the audience reaffirmed
the effort with its applause.
In another performance, Wenqing Zhang, winner of
the first prize at the International Young Artist Piano
Competition, performed works by Prokofiev and Ravel.
The competition’s founder, Li-Ly Chang, introduced the
young artist to the series she has long supported. The
artist has played piano since age five and continues to
study at the Eastman School of Music.
Launching her concert with Ravel’s 8 Valses Nobles et
Sentimentales, she displayed deft phrasing and hand
movements. She followed with a performance of
Prokofiev’s Sonata no. 2 in d minor, op. 14. The composi-
tion, barbaric and percussive in nature, formed a striking
contrast with Ravel’s impressionistic and romantic work.
The artist received a standing ovation.

The author is a computer specialist in the Executive

Soprano Cynthia Young and mezzo-soprano Barbara Schelstrate. Secretariat.

By John Bentel

I
t was like peering inside a tent at
last summer’s Folklife Festival
centered on the ancient Silk Road
theme, watching a talented group of
women perform for State employees
recently in an indoor venue.
Like the festival, the Silk Road
Dance Company takes its name from
the network of caravan routes that
linked China with the Mediterranean.
Laurel Victoria Gray, artistic director,
founded the ensemble in 1995. The
dancers’ costumes were a whirl of col-
or, complementing their seductive,
mysterious movements.
The performance affirmed the artis-
tic director’s careful research and
effort to preserve the authenticity of The Silk Road Dance Company performs at State.

28 State Magazine Contents

 APPOINTMENTS
U.S. Ambassador to the Sultanate
of Oman. Richard L. Baltimore III
of New York, a career member of
the Senior Foreign Service, class of
Minister-Counselor, is the new U.S.
Ambassador to the Sultanate of
Oman. He was consul general in
Jeddah from 1999 to 2002 and
deputy chief of mission in San José
from 1996 to 1999 and Budapest
from 1990 to 1994. Mr. Baltimore was previously assigned
to Budapest from 1984 to 1987 and has also served in
Portugal, South Africa, Egypt and Zambia. He and his
wife Eszter have three daughters.
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic
of Ethiopia. Aurelia E. Brazeal of
Georgia, a career member of the
Senior Foreign Service, class of
Career Minister, is the new U.S.
Ambassador to the Republic of
Ethiopia. She was the first dean of
the Department’s Leadership and
Management School from 1999 to
2002 and dean of the Senior
Seminar from 1998 to 1999. Ms. Brazeal was deputy assis-
tant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 1996
to 1998. She was U.S. Ambassador to Kenya from 1993 to
1996 and the first U.S. Ambassador to the Federated
States of Micronesia from 1990 to 1993. She has also
served two tours in Japan and another in Argentina.
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic
of Zambia. Martin G. Brennan of
California, a career member of the
Senior Foreign Service, class of
Minister-Counselor, is the new U.S.
Ambassador to the Republic of
Zambia. He was U.S. Ambassador
to Uganda from 1999 to 2002. A
Foreign Service officer since 1976,
Mr. Brennan has also served in
Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Taiwan, Portugal, Thailand,
Ethiopia, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic
of Iceland. James I. Gadsden of
Maryland, a career member of the
Senior Foreign Service, class of
Minister-Counselor, is the new U.S.
Ambassador to the Republic of
Iceland. He served as special nego-
tiator for agricultural biotechnolo-
gy in the Bureau of Economic and
Business Affairs from 2001 to 2002.
He was deputy assistant secretary for European Affairs
from 1997 to 2001. Mr. Gadsden served as deputy chief of
mission at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest from 1994 to
1997, his second tour there. He joined the Foreign Service
in 1972 and has also served in Paris, Brussels and Taipei.
Mr. Gadsden and his wife Sally have two sons.
U.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso.
J. Anthony “Tony” Holmes of
California, a career member of the
Senior Foreign Service, class of
Counselor, is the new U.S.
Ambassador to Burkina Faso. He
directed the Africa Bureau’s policy
office from 1999 to 2002, combat-
ting the HIV/AIDS pandemic and
implementing the African Growth
and Opportunity Act. He was deputy director of the
office of sanctions policy in the Bureau of Economic and
Business Affairs from 1995 to 1996. He served abroad in
Cairo, Damascus, Nairobi, Singapore, Harare and
Stockholm. He and his wife Ingalill have two sons.
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic
of Mali. Vicki Huddleston of
Arizona, a career member of the
Senior Foreign Service, class of
Minister-Counselor, is the new U.S.
Ambassador to the Republic of Mali.
She was principal officer at the U.S.
Interest Section in Havana from 1999
to 2002 and deputy assistant secre-
tary for African Affairs from 1995 to
1997. She was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy
in Port-au-Prince from 1993 to 1995, during the deployment
of the multinational force to Haiti. From 1989 to 1993, Ms.
Huddleston was deputy and then coordinator of the office
of the coordinator of Cuban Affairs. She has also served in
Sierra Leone and Mali. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in
Peru and worked in Peru and Brazil with the American
Institute for Free Labor Development. She and her husband
Robert, a retired Foreign Service officer, have two children.
December 2002 29
 APPOINTMENTS

U.S. Ambassador to the Republic 2000 to 2002. Previously, he was on loan to the British and
of Albania. James F. Jeffrey of Irish governments as part of the Irish peace process, serv-
Virginia, a career member of the ing as one of three members of the Independent
Senior Foreign Service, class of International Commission on Decommissioning, over-
Minister-Counselor, is the new U.S. seeing the destruction of armaments. Before that, Mr.
Ambassador to the Republic of Johnson was head of mission for the international peace-
Albania. He was deputy chief of keeping mission in Moldova, representing the
mission in Ankara from 1999 to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
2002 and in Kuwait from 1996 to From 1993 to 1996, he was U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia.
1999. Mr. Jeffrey served as officer in He joined the Foreign Service in 1974 and held assign-
charge of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in ments in Guatemala, Moscow, Taipei, Beijing, Madrid
Europe, as deputy director of the Office of Near Eastern and Tegucigalpa. He served in the U.S. Army from 1971
Peace Process and Regional Affairs and as deputy presi- to 1973. Mr. Johnson is married.
dential special adviser for Bosnia implementation. He
served as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army in Germany U.S. Ambassador to the Republic
and Vietnam. He and his wife have two children. of Uganda. Jimmy Kolker of
Missouri, a career member of the
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic Senior Foreign Service, class of
of Cape Verde. Donald C. Johnson Minister-Counselor, is the new U.S.
of Texas, a career member of the Ambassador to the Republic of
Senior Foreign Service, class of Uganda. He was U.S. Ambassador
Minister-Counselor, is the new U.S. to Burkina Faso from 1999 to 2002.
Ambassador to the Republic of Mr. Kolker was deputy chief of
Cape Verde. He served as senior mission in Botswana from 1990 to
adviser to the Foreign Service 1994 and Denmark from 1996 to 1999. He has also served
Institute and to the Director in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Sweden and the United
General of the Foreign Service from Kingdom. He is married and has two daughters.

Foreign Service Retirements
Bandler, Donald Keith
Bartsiotas, George A.
Becher, Anna Beth
Bennetch, Dorothy J.
Boone, Rudolph Frederick
Brattain, Steven M.
Buck, Stephen W.
Cairns, Thomas E.
De Pierre-Hollowell, Daria
Eisenbraun, Stephen E.
Finney Jr., John D.
Gannon, Richard M.
Gappa, Howard L.
PERSONNEL ACTIONS
Civil Service Retirements
Gray, William Gary Schoonover, James Clements,Willie Eugene Malkin, Joanne R.
Griffith, Wayne G. Laurence Forster, Paul E. Mastropieri, Carmen A.
Gross II, Bernard E. Stevens, Sandra A. Foss, Larry W. Patterson, David S.
Harkness, Edward Michael Thielmann, A. Gregory Mack, Bettie F. Witter, Bruce Ralph
Holley, Robert Michael Trites, William S. Mack, Karen Marie Yancey, Mary S.
Hopkins, Irma J. Tuck, John C.
Kekich, Mary Ann Turco, Robin Wallace
Lee, Katherine Inez Twining Jr., Charles H.
McClure, Rachel G. Wallach, Joel S.
Menzies, John K. Waller, Patricia L.
Perdreaux, Hinda Wells, Sharon S.
Pocus, Daniel John
Saloom III, Joseph A.

30 State Magazine Contents

 O B I T U A R I E S
Blanche M. Anderson, 71, wife of
retired Foreign Service officer
Donald M. Anderson, died Oct. 5 of
complications from surgery for
cancer at Georgetown University
Hospital in Washington, D.C. She
accompanied her husband on
assignments in Taiwan, Hong
Kong, New Delhi, Paris, Beijing
and Shanghai, where she helped
with re-opening the Shanghai American School. Earlier,
she taught history and economics at the Hong Kong
International School.
Leo E. Crampsey, 77, a retired Diplomatic Security agent,
died June 5 in Wilmington, Del. Mr. Crampsey joined the
State Department in 1951 after a brief stint as a profes-
sional football player with the Richmond Rebels and San
Francisco 49ers. He was the supervisory regional securi-
ty officer at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon from 1967 to 1969.
During the Tet Offensive of early 1968, he helped repulse
a suicide squad of Viet Cong guerrillas who scaled the
embassy walls, earning him the Department’s award for
heroism. He also served at the U.S. Embassy in
Guatemala, arriving shortly after the assassination of
Ambassador John Gordon Mein by leftist guerrillas. He
retired in 1978 as the special agent in charge of the digni-
tary protective division.
Barbara Ann Elbinger, 59, wife of
Foreign Service officer Lewis
Elbinger, died suddenly on June 13
in New York. She accompanied her
husband to posts in Oman, Saudi
Arabia, Sudan, Germany, Kenya
and India. She served as housing
coordinator in Kenya and India
and taught at the American School
in Saudi Arabia.
Firminio Faria, 58, Foreign Service
National employee at the U.S.
Consulate General in Curacao,
died Sept. 23 in Curacao from natu-
ral causes. Mr. Faria worked at the
consulate for more than 28 years,
starting as a gardener. He spent
most of his career overseeing main-
tenance and as post driver. He was
a native of Portugal.
Franklin S. Forsberg, 96, former
ambassador to Sweden, died
March 29 in Greenwich, Conn.,
from a fall in his home. He had
returned from his office in New
York City, where he commuted dai-
ly by train. Mr. Forsberg served
four years, 1981 to 1985, as ambas-
sador to Sweden, his parents’ birth-
place. He spoke Swedish fluently
and was much loved by the royal family. The Forsbergs
reciprocated by naming their three children Lars, Erik
and Kristen. A publishing executive before entering the
U.S. Army during World War II, Col. Forsberg helped to
found Yank magazine, an Army weekly published in 21
countries. After the war, he directed the magazine divi-
sion of Holt, Rinehart and Winston. He was buried with
full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery.
Ramon Garces, 76, a retired Foreign
Service officer, died of cancer Sept.
14 at his home in Austin, Texas. He
joined the U.S. Information Agency
in 1967 and coordinated media for
several heads of state and their
appointees: President Johnson’s vis-
it to Central America; Vice President
Bush’s trip to Lagos; Secretary Kiss-
inger’s visit to Brasilia; and Pres-
ident Carter’s trip to Rio de Janeiro. The former newspa-
per reporter-editor retired in 1988.
December 2002 31
 O B I T U A R I E S
Elizabeth “Betty” Kruse, 83, wife of
retired Foreign Service officer Tom
Kruse, died May 22 in Sarasota,
Fla., of lung cancer. She followed
her husband, an employee of the
U.S. Information Agency, on tours
in Rangoon, Colombo, Seoul,
Lagos and Pakistan. Arriving by
ship in 1946, she was among the
first American wives allowed into
Korea after World War II.
Astrid Maria McCormick, 77, wife of
retired Foreign Service officer
Francis P. McCormick, died Oct. 1
at her home in Orlando, Fla. She
was an assistant attaché with the
Swedish legation in Budapest
when she met and married her hus-
band, a member of the U.S. lega-
tion. She accompanied him on
assignments to Nairobi, Beirut,
Nicosia, Jeddah, Panama City, Ankara and Damascus
before he retired in 1979. Suzanne McCormick, a daugh-
ter, is a Foreign Service officer.
In the Event of Death
Questions concerning deaths in service should be
directed to the Employee Services Center, the
Department’s contact office for all deaths in service:
Harry S Truman Building, Room 1252, Department of
State, Washington, DC 20520-1252; (202) 647-3432; fax:
(202) 647-1429; e-mail: EmployeeServicesCenter@
state.gov.
32 State Magazine
Robert Henderson Munn, 76, retired
Foreign Service officer, died Sept.
15 in Yuba City, Calif., after a long
illness. He joined the State
Department in 1956 and was post-
ed to Tripoli, Baghdad, Jerusalem,
Khartoum, Ankara and Pretoria.
He retired from the Foreign Service
in 1977. A veteran, he served in the
U.S. Army from 1944 until 1953.
His daughter, Lynn Donovan, is a Foreign Service officer.
Evelyn Mae Schwarztrauber, 92, a
retired Foreign Service officer, died
Aug. 13 at her home in Longboat
Key, Fla., after suffering a stroke
July 26. One of the country’s first
women Foreign Service officers,
she served for 35 years with post-
ings to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka),
Ghana, Australia, Mexico, Japan
and Panama. She retired in 1970.
During the Great Depression, she worked for the
Departments of Commerce and War.
Questions concerning the deaths of retired Foreign
Service employees should be directed to the Office of
Retirement at (202) 261-8960, Retirement@state.gov.
Questions concerning the deaths of retired Civil
Service employees should be directed to the Office of
Personnel Management at (202) 606-0500, http://
www.opm.gov.
Contents
Contents